OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Author: Michele Ainley

  • Saint Cobhthach, Abbot of Kildare, July 18

    July 18 is the feastday of a ninth-century Abbot of Kildare whom the Irish Annals describe as ‘a wise man and learned doctor’. Below is Canon O’Hanlon’s entry for Saint Cobhthach of Kildare:St. Cobhthach, Abbot of Kildare. [Ninth Century.]

    We are informed by Colgan, that a St. Cobhthach, son of Muiredach, was an Abbot at Kildare, and that he was a man of singular wisdom. He appears to have been venerated, on the 18th of July. In an ancient Irish Poem, his merits have been extolled. It is quoted in the Annals of the Four Masters, and it has thus been translated into English:—

    “Cobhthach of the Cuirreach of races, intended King of Liphthe of tunics,
    Alas! for the great son of Muireadhach.
    Ah grief! the descendant of the comely fair Ceallach.
    Chief of scholastic Leinster, a perfect, comely, prudent sage,
    A brilliant shining star was Cobhthach, the successor of Connladh.”

    How long he ruled there is not recorded, but he probably succeeded Ceallach, son of Ailell, Abbot of Cill-dara, and the Abbot of Iona, who died in Pictland, A.D. 863, or 865.

    The death of the present holy Abbot Cobhthach has been assigned to the year 868, or 869.

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  • Saint Scoth of Cluain Mór Moescna, July 16

    On July 16 the Irish calendars record the name of a holy woman, Scoth, and associate her with a place called Cluain-mór-Moescna. Canon O’Hanlon suggests that this could be the modern Clonmaskill, County Westmeath and raises the possibility that our saint might be the nun of this name mentioned as a relative of Saint Senan of Scattery Island, whose hagiography records that he visited her religious house near Mullingar:

    St. Scoth, Virgin, of Cluain-mor-Moescna, probably Clonmaskill, County of Westmeath. 

    In the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 16th of July, appears the name Scoth, Cluana moescna. This appears to be identical with Clonmaskill, in the barony of Fertullagh, county of Westmeath . Or it may be Clonmaskill in the parish of Castletowndelvin, and barony of Delvin, in the same county. At an early period after the Anglo-Norman Invasion, Hugh de Lacy built here a castle for his brother-in-law, Sir Gilbert de Nugent, who resided in it for a time, while its ruins now occupy the sides of a quadrangular fort, having had a round tower at each corner. This was anciently the seat of the Barons of Delvin. There is a St. Scota, referred to in the Life of St. Senan, Abbot of Iniscattery. She is called the daughter of Cobhtach, and she is also regarded as his paternal aunt. Her festival is supposed to have fallen on this day. If the identification be correct, she must have been born about or after the middle of the fifth century. Towards the close of his life, St. Senan wished to visit her cell. This must have happened, it seems probable, after the middle of the sixth century. The nunnery of this St. Scoth, or Scota, seems to have been not far from the monastery, which was in the district, known as Irros, in the county of Clare. For an account of the present St. Scota, we are referred by Colgan, to the Martyrologies of Tallagh, of Marianus and of Aengus, at the 18th—probably a mistake for the 16th—of July. Her religious house was situated a few miles northwards from Mullingar. This monastery is supposed to have perished during the Danish wars. The name of this holy woman is entered in the Martyrology of Donegal, at this same date, as Scoth, Virgin, of Cluain Mór Moescna.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.

  • Saint Comman, Son of Diomma, July 15

    On July 15 the Irish calendars record the memory of a holy man, Comman, son of Diomma, but as Canon O’Hanlon explains below, he is one of the many Irish saints about whose life no other details have survived:

    St. Comman, Son of Diomma, or Dimmai.
    The lonely hills and solitudes of our Island were once peopled with devoted men, who were engaged incelebrating the praises of God, although it is now difficult to know where the exact dwelling places of many had been. In the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 15th of July, there is an entry of Comman Mac Dimmai. We find registered the name Comman, son of Diomma, in the Martyrology of Donegal, at the same date, but no further particulars are given.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.